How can we improve Excel for Mac?

Mac OS update to Catalina

Just ugraded to Catalina and now unable to use my Office package, contacted Microsoft and been told I need to pay and upgrade to 64 bit version, Catalina does not support 32 bit. I was happy with what I had and previously paid for. This is ridiculous surely office packages should be supported and future proofed against OS updates,

I understands your grieve but you should always check before what you upgrade. It is known for years that 32bit app's will be abandoned on macOS.
If you need Catalina AND your old office, then you can run yor office apps in a Virtual box with Mojave and at the same time as Catalina.